


It Was Only Pretend

by RyspositoWritings



Category: Castle
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Undercover As Gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-11-11
Packaged: 2018-02-24 22:38:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2599112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyspositoWritings/pseuds/RyspositoWritings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In order to pinpoint who their perp is, the team must go undercover at an art gallery in order to spot him. What Castle neglects to tell them is that he may have spread the word that he was bringing a beautiful date and a couple friends… who are gay lovers. Now Ryan and Esposito have to pretend to be in a relationship in order to not blow their cover. What they didn’t expect was to start falling.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Was Only Pretend

**Author's Note:**

> Castle and Beckett haven't gotten together yet and Jenny doesn't exist.

                                                                  

 

“What’s that?” Ryan asked, looking at the envelope Castle had set on his desk.

“That, my friend, is a set of four tickets to tonight’s art gallery opening.” Castle smiled as he sat in his usual chair. “I know the owner of the gallery, Miss Blackard, and she was generous enough to get me these.”

“Seriously, Castle?” Beckett said, rolling her eyes. “We don’t need to go to the gallery. We don’t even know if the suspect will be there.”

“That may be, but if there’s a chance, I figure why not go for it?”

“Why four tickets?” Ryan asked, pulling them out of the envelope and trying, and failing, to hide his excitement about going somewhere fun. “Don’t you and Beckett usually do this kind of thing while Espo and I wait outside?”

“Well, I figured you and Esposito would like to go too. Aside from the fact that it’s just an undercover op, there is some fascinating art to be found. And, did I mention, free alcohol.” Castle replied.

“This isn’t an undercover op.” Beckett said. “This is a hunch. One of Castle’s hunches, and we’re not gonna do it.”

“Not gonna do what?” Esposito asked as he entered the room with two coffees, one for him and one for Ryan.

“Castle got us all tickets to the art gallery opening and Beckett doesn’t want to go.” Ryan answered.

“Art gallery? You mean an enclosed space with a bunch of snobby art buffs? Count me out.” Esposito set Ryan’s coffee in front of him and then sat down.

“You don’t think it would be fun?” Ryan asked, keeping the smile as somewhat of a ruse to mask his disappointment.

“You think it would?” Esposito scoffed. “If I want to go somewhere to be judged, I’ll just stop by my Abuela’s house.”

“We’re not goin’, Castle. Sorry.” Beckett said, giving him a shrug just as her phone went off. She stopped to answer it.

“Damn.” Castle muttered. “It would’ve been really fun and I had an outfit all ready.”

“It would’ve been boring.” Esposito said. “The people at those places all have sticks up their asses.”

Ryan gave a small sigh. “Sounded fun anyway, Castle.” He said, handing the envelope back.

Before Castle could reach for it, Beckett hung up her phone. “Hope it still sounds fun, Ryan, because we’re going.”

“What?!” Esposito asked.

Ryan and Castle fist bumped.

“What happened, Beckett? Why are we going?” Esposito asked.

“Apparently the painting the killer wanted is going to be featured at the gallery. He’s going to be there.”

“You think he’d show up to steal a painting in a crowded room?”

“He’s gonna be there to scope the place.” Castle said, coming to the same conclusion as Beckett.

“It’s not the best lead, but it’s the only one we’ve got.” Beckett sighed. “When is the gallery, Castle?”

Castle stood and clapped his hands together. “Tonight at seven. Wear your most artsy outfits, we want to blend in. Beckett, I think you’ll want to wear a nice black dress that stops just about-”

“We’ll see you there at seven, Castle.” Beckett interrupted him. “Go home and get ready or something. We’ll finish up the paperwork and meet you there.”

“Seven o’clock sharp.” Castle tapped his watch and then spun around and sauntered to the elevator.

“Do we have to do this, Beckett?” Esposito asked.

“Unfortunately yes.” Beckett nodded. “I wasn’t just saying that to get rid of Castle. Our suspect is definitely going to be there.

~.~.~

Beckett stepped out of her car wearing a black pencil dress and heels that matched. Her long hair had been pulled back into a ponytail and she was carrying a black handbag. One thing everyone knew about Beckett, the woman really knew how to dress.

When she stepped up to the front of the building, Castle was there looking...well, about the same way he usually looked. Black suit, white shirt, no tie, and hair done perfectly. He smiled when she stepped up to him.

“You look radiant, Kate.” He said, taking her hand.

Beckett rolled her eyes but smiled.

“Well, don’t you look nice.” Esposito said, stepping up to the two of them.

Esposito had taken almost the same route as Castle. He wore a black suit with a pale purple shirt and shiny black penny loafers. He smelled great too.

“Where’s Ryan?” He asked, looking over the heads of the crowd.

“Oh wow.” Beckett said, spotting him a little ways away.

Ryan was known for his snappy suits, and he didn’t disappoint tonight. His suit was also black, as was the apparent color for tonight, and looked like it had been tailored specifically for him. The shirt underneath was also black with white buttons and an open collar. He wore a pair of shiny oxfords that looked too expensive for a cop’s salary, and he had a blue pocket handkerchief. His hair was, of course, done perfectly.

He smiled when he saw them and jogged over to where they stood. “You guys look great!” He said, enthusiastically.

“Ryan, where did you get that outfit? I must know.” Castle said dramatically.

Ryan looked down. “Is it too much?” He asked.

“You look great, Ryan.” Beckett reassured. “Shall we?” She addressed the entire group.

“Ah.” Castle cleared his throat, obviously having something not so pleasant to tell everyone.

“Oh god, Castle, what now?” Beckett asked.

“Well, I may have let Miss Blackard know that I was bringing a date…”

“Which would be me.” Beckett said, heaving a sigh. “Well, that’s not so far fetched, Castle. It’ll probably help us blend in better anyway.”

“Oh good.” Castle looked relieved that she wasn’t going to shoot him. “I, uh…”

“What now?” Beckett asked, exasperated.

“Well, I said we were also bringing some friends.” He gestured to Ryan and Esposito and then looked at the floor. “Whoaregaylovers, okay let’s go!” He turned for the entrance but was stopped by all three detectives grabbing his upper arms and forcing him to turn around.

“You said what?” Esposito asked.

“Well…” Castle sighed. “I was telling her that I was bringing a date and her partners. And… in order to fix the mess up, I told her you two were partners. Life partners.”

Ryan and Esposito exchanged a look.

“It’s not that ridiculous.” Castle said, trying to get out of the hole he was currently digging himself. “I mean, you two would have spent the whole evening together anyway and gay men look like any other man, so it’s not a hard thing to fake. I just… felt like you should know before she sees us and spreads the word around and you end up hearing it from someone else.”

Esposito looked a little murderous and Ryan looked like he wasn’t sure what to do with this information.

“You don’t have to kiss or anything.” Castle said. “Just...pretend to be boyfriends...for one night… so we don’t blow our cover.”

Esposito stepped up to Castle. Even though he was shorter, he was able to strike fear into the writer’s heart. “I’m going to kill you, Castle.” He said before stepping past him and toward the door, Ryan following close behind.

“Well, Castle,” Beckett said, giving him a sympathetic pat on the back. “This should probably teach you to watch what you say.”

Castle watched her walk after her partners. He couldn’t understand it. Why had Esposito gotten so defensive? It wasn’t that big of a deal, was it?

“You coming, Castle?” Beckett called from the front entryway.

Castle jogged to his friends and handed the tickets to the man at the door. Esposito gave Castle a glare before walking into the building, Ryan close at his heels.

The gallery was beautiful, as was expected. The paintings on the walls and the sculptures were mostly amazing, save for the ones that made absolutely no sense.

“Richard Castle.” Miss Blackard stepped up to the group. She was a short woman with dark hair and eyes and she obviously spent a lot of money on makeup. She was wearing a red dress that flared out toward the end and she was wearing expensive jewelry. Everything was high quality, giving the impression that she was quite well off.

Castle took the hand she offered. “Miss Blackard.” He said warmly. “Thank you so much for these tickets. The place looks radiant.”

“Oh, Richard, you are a flirt.” She said, giggling slightly. “And I assume these are your friends?”

“Yes, this is Kate,” Castle gestured to Beckett who had her hand taken by Miss Blackard.

“Oh, you found a beautiful one, Richard. You look stunning, dear.”

“Th-thank you.” Beckett said.

“Which means these two must be Kevin and Javier.” She smiled warmly at the two of them who looked incredibly uncomfortable. “Welcome to the gallery. And please enjoy yourselves.” She gave them another overly warm smile and then turned to greet more of her guests.

Esposito gave Castle a look. “Well, how many more people are gonna look at us like that now?”

Castle cleared his throat. “It won’t be so bad, Esposito.”

“Are you kidding?” Ryan whispered. “These people love guys like us. They’re going to try to befriend us so they can use us as an excuse to act homophobic and when they’re caught, they can just say ‘I can’t possibly be homophobic, I have gay friends.’ And we aren’t even gay.”

“Just go along with it, guys. Just for two hours.” Castle said. “And you don’t have to befriend anyone.”

Esposito growled. “Come on, pumpkin.” He said, grabbing Ryan’s arm. “Let’s go look at that one.”

Ryan sighed and followed him.

Despite the issue that two of his partners were angry with him, Castle was having a rather pleasant evening. Beckett didn’t seem so angry about being seen as his date, though she wasn’t too pleased with some of the internalized misogyny a lot of these people had when it came to her and Castle. Many people would imply that she was with Castle for his money and how nice it must be to have someone like that take care of her and Castle could tell it took all of her strength not to smack them over the head and announce that she was actually a cop and was doing quite well for herself, thank you very much.

“Richard,” Miss Blackard said, stepping up to the two of them and looking worried.

“Miss Blackard, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Javier and Kevin.” She said, distraught. “I think the two of them might be in an argument.”

“What makes you say that?” Castle looked up at the two men looking at a painting. They did look tense, but it had nothing to do with each other. They were mad at Castle.

“They haven’t touched each other all evening and Javier looks incredibly angry. I do hope they don’t get into an argument. It would spoil the whole evening, not only for them, but for everyone here too. Arguments make everything very tense and, you know, it wouldn’t be very good etiquette for them to make themselves the center of attention-”

“We’ll go talk to them, Miss Blackard.” Beckett said. “They may just be a little worried to show affection in public.” She grabbed Castle’s arm and led him over to her partners.

“It looks like a monkey.” Esposito was saying. “A really big blue monkey.”

“How do you see a monkey?” Ryan asked, tilting his head to the side. “It looks nothing like a monkey at all.”

“Hey, guys.” Beckett said as she and Castle joined them.

“Beckett, awesome.” Ryan said. “Settle this for us. Is that a monkey or an elephant?”

Beckett stared at it for a bit. “It looks like a bear.”

“What?”

“That is not a bear.”

“Okay, that’s not the issue.” Beckett said before she could get too distracted. “Miss Blackard is worried you guys are in a fight.”

Esposito raised an eyebrow. “And what does she care?”

“She thinks the two of you are going to get into an argument and ruin everything.” Castle explained.

“Well, did you tell her we’re not mad at each other?” Ryan asked. “And that we’re mad at you?”

Castle sighed. “Well, I don’t think it would make a difference. Can’t you guys just… act like a couple?”

“What are we supposed to do?” Esposito asked, folding his arms.

“I don’t know, hold hands, put your arm around Ryan’s shoulder, anything. Just act like you’re in a relationship or she’s going to be bugging us about you all night and we need to be looking for the suspect, do you think you can do that?” Beckett asked, frustrated.

Esposito gritted his teeth.

“You’re not gonna chicken out, are you Esposito?” Castle asked, trying a different tactic. “If you can’t handle this, maybe we should just leave.”

Esposito gave him a long lingering glare. “Ryan.” He said, still looking at Castle. “Be prepared for the boyfriend of a lifetime.”

“Wha-”

Esposito cut him off by grabbing his hand and walking away.

“Espo, what are we-”

“Look at the painting.” Esposito instructed.

Ryan gave him a confused look before turning and looking at the piece of art that honestly looked like a paint can threw up on a canvas.

A second later, he felt Esposito’s arms sneak around his middle and his chin rest on his shoulder. He swallowed hard at the warm and, to be quite honest, welcome feeling of Esposito behind him. He could feel Esposito’s chest on his back and his breath hitched as he felt soft lips lightly brush against his neck.

“Castle wants a show, we’ll give him a show.” Esposito whispered in his ear.

And just like that, the warmth turned stale. An act, that’s all it was.

Ryan cleared his throat. “So… what do you think of this one?” He asked.

Esposito looked up at the painting. “It looks like a paint can threw up on a canvas.”

Ryan snorted. “Yeah. Yeah, it does.”

Esposito laughed and stood straight, dropping his arms from around his partner. “Moving on?” He asked, holding his hand out for Ryan to take.

Ryan hesitated before taking Esposito’s hand and letting him lead him to another painting of a nude woman.

“Okay, here we go.” Esposito said, smiling.

Ryan looked over at his partner and then back at the ground. He hated acting. With everything that he was, he hated it.

“You want a drink?” Esposito asked, looking over at Ryan after thoroughly taking in the painting.

“Uh, yeah.” Ryan replied.

Esposito dropped his hand and left to find the bar.

“That’s a really nice guy you got there.”

Ryan turned to find a nice looking girl in her twenties looking up at him with a smile on her face.

“Oh, yeah.” He said.

“How long have you two been together?” She asked.

Ryan blanked. “Uh, five years.” He said, coming up with a random number.

“Long time.” She said, impressed. “And are you guys planning on getting married soon?”

Ryan laughed softly. “Well, that’s up to him.” He said.

She smiled. “Is it? You could ask him.”

“I could.” Ryan agreed. “It’s just… not something we’ve ever talked about.”

She nodded. “Well you should, because the way he looks at you, it’s obvious he loves you.” She looked behind her. “Oh, my girlfriend’s looking for me.” She smiled at him. “Enjoy the rest of the gallery.”

Ryan watched her walk away to her girlfriend who gave her a peck on the lips and the two of them walked away hand in hand.

“What’re you looking at?”

Ryan jumped and turned to find Esposito standing there with two drinks in his hands.

“Oh, nothing.” Ryan accepted the drink. “Thanks.”

“Well, should we continue?” He took Ryan’s hand again and they continued on to the next piece of art.

Ryan really enjoyed the feeling of Esposito’s hand in his. It was warm and slightly calloused and just made him feel safe.

“Miss Blackard is looking at us.” Esposito whispered in his ear, making a shiver run down his spine.

“You think she’s appeased by our performance?” Ryan asked, hoping it didn’t sound as cold as he thought.

“I have an idea.” Esposito said, finishing off his drink and letting Ryan finish his off before taking the drinks and setting them down. “Come on.” He grabbed Ryan’s hand once again and led him around a corner and to a closet.

The closet was small and full of cleaning supplies, but it was just large enough for two people to fit, provided they stood very close to each other.

Esposito shut the door and the two of them were standing chest to chest.

“Espo, what are we doing?” Ryan asked.

“Making out in a closet.” Espo said matter of factly. “Well, making Miss Blackard think we’re making out in a closet.”

“Ah.” Ryan said, trying to look anywhere but at his partner.

“This closet is really small.” Esposito remarked.

“Hold on, I might be able to manoeuvre some of this stuff behind me and make some room.” Ryan said, turning around slowly and spotting a mop and bucket behind him. He bent slightly to grab them and then froze.

Their current position was suggestive at best. Ryan hadn’t even stopped to realize that his ass and Esposito’s crotch were in close proximity, but when he bent over, he got the message loud and clear.

He grabbed the mop and bucket and straightened as quickly as he could then reached over and set the cleaning supplies on a top shelf and took a step back. It was only a little more room, but it was better than before.

“How long are we going to make out for?” Ryan asked.

Esposito seemed distracted. “What?” He asked. “Oh, um… shouldn’t be very long. We’ll give it a couple more minutes.”

Ryan nodded.

They stood in silence for a time, feeling the awkward air get thicker.

“Do you hear that?” Esposito whispered suddenly.

Ryan put his ear to the door. “Footsteps.” He said.

Before another word could be said, the door swung open and they came face to face with Castle and Beckett.

“What the hell are you two doing in here?” Beckett asked.

“Making out.” Esposito shrugged. “Well, making everyone think we’re making out.”

Castle looked them both up and down. “Hm…” He said. “You’re not convincing enough.” He stepped forward and messed up Ryan’s hair slightly.

“Hey!” Ryan said, putting a hand to his hair and trying to smooth it out.

“You don’t honestly think someone would make out with you and not run their hands through your hair, do you?” Castle said. He looked over at Esposito and popped a few buttons on his shirt. “There. You both look pleasantly ruffled.”

Beckett rolled her eyes. “Come on, guys, we’ve got a suspect to spot.”

They returned to the party back in cop mode, Ryan and Esposito getting knowing glances as people noticed their ruffled appearance. Esposito continued to hold Ryan’s hand the whole time as the two of them surveyed the room. It became second nature and, after a few minutes, neither of them really noticed they were doing it. Their hands meshed perfectly, the difference in skin tone creating a dramatic pop to their fingers.

“Three o’clock.” Ryan whispered, tilting his head indicating a man with dark hair standing off to the side.

Esposito looked over at the guy. He was taking pictures of everything with his phone. It wouldn’t seem so strange if he weren’t taking pictures of the cameras and exits.

“That’s our guy.” Esposito confirmed. He looked over the crowd of people and caught Beckett’s eye, directing her gaze to the guy.

She looked over and gave a slight smile.

They all headed in the same direction in order to confront the suspect. Ryan felt Esposito’s hand slip out of his and instantly felt the loss, but could do nothing as it was time to take action.

“Hey there.” Esposito said once they reached the guy. “You come to these things often?” He not so subtly showed off his badge and the guy immediately took off.

Ryan sighed. “You go left, I go right?” He asked.

Esposito nodded and he and Ryan split up in order to catch him. Beckett was in heels, but that would never stop her, and she took a third route just in case. Castle stood there somewhat uselessly before running in another direction and almost plowing into a group of young artists.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.” He was saying just as he saw the perp running straight for him. He braced himself for impact just as the guy slammed into him and the two of them crashed to the floor.

“Nice catch, Castle.” Esposito said as he, Ryan, and Beckett crowded around the two with their guns raised.

“What the hell is goin on?!” Miss Blackard exclaimed.

“Miss Blackard, we’ve found our art thief.” Beckett explained, never taking her eyes off the guy.

“But then, you’re all cops?” Miss Blackard asked. She looked over to Ryan and Esposito with disappointment in her eyes. “You two really aren’t together?”

“No ma’am.” Ryan answered. “It was only pretend.”

No one saw the shadow pass over Esposito’s face at Ryan’s words.

~.~.~

The art thief confessed to the murder within ten minutes of being in the interrogation room with Beckett. Of course, this meant a mountain of paperwork for the three of them which also meant they had to decline Castle’s offer to take them out for a drink. Castle bid them farewell and headed on home.

Beckett finished her paperwork first, as per usual, and also bid her partners goodnight, leaving the two of them as only two of six people still in the precinct.

Everything was quiet save for the sound of everyone typing up their reports.

“Just pretend, huh?” Esposito asked as he typed something into his computer.

“What?” Ryan asked, turning around in his chair.

“You said it was just pretend.” Esposito replied, stopping his work.

Comprehension dawned on him. “Well, it was.” Ryan shrugged. “We were only pretending to be together.”

Esposito nodded. “You know, Ryan. There are some things a guy can’t fake.”

Ryan looked up from his paperwork only to see Esposito looking very interested in his folded hands. He cleared his throat. “Like?” He asked slowly.

Esposito glanced up and then sighed. “You know what I’m talking about, Kevin.” He said, exasperated. “I was in the damn broom closet, we were practically standing on top of each other.”

Ryan swallowed. It was true. After bending down and making the closet far more awkward than it needed to be, Ryan had felt himself rising a bit.

He cleared his throat. “I… I noticed you were having trouble hiding a few things yourself.”

After a minute, Esposito stood swiftly and grabbed Ryan’s arm, forcing him to his feet and dragging him to the broom closet around the corner. Once inside, Esposito practically threw himself on his partner, devouring his mouth and taking pleasure in the fact that Ryan was devouring right back.

He pushed Ryan back against the shelves of cleaner and felt excitement pool in his stomach as Ryan moaned in pleasure.

“We should’ve done this at the gallery.” Ryan said breathlessly as Esposito attacked his neck with nips and kisses.

“We were only pretending then.” Esposito said, capturing Ryan’s mouth once again. “This time is for real.”

Ryan pulled away and looked his partner in the eyes. “For real?” He said. “You mean you want to…”

Esposito put a hand on Ryan’s cheek. “Yeah.” He said. “I want to if you want to.”

“Oh god, I want to.” Ryan said before they kissed again.

 **  
**How they were going to tell Castle and Beckett that they were going out was a problem they could address later. For now all they wanted to do was kiss for the rest of their lives and, if they continued like this, much more.


End file.
